#3Novices: Alain Gilles designs foosball table that “doesn’t have to be hidden in the basement”

Brussels-based designer Alain Gilles took cues from Nordic design to create this minimal foosball table, designed to look good in any room.

Gilles sought to create a less masculine container for table football, so that the game “doesn’t have to be hidden in the basement”.

His design, called The Pure, is contained within a curved shell that conceals all the game’s mechanics, but appears less bulky than the typical cuboidal form.

The designer also simplified the other various elements including the players, removing extra detail to give the table a more refined appearance.

Handles are finished in chrome, and the wooden covering – chosen to add warmth, as well as to reference the materials used in traditional foosball tables – also incorporates abacus-style scoring.

The designer believes these details make the table suitable for any room in the home, as well as inside bars, restaurants and hotels.

“Foosball tables have historically been designed for public spaces, typically for rather masculine spaces like bars and game rooms,” Gilles told Dezeen. “We were looking to design a more high-end piece that could fit in a home or at the entrance of a boutique hotel.”

“Thus a piece that could fit in the centre of a living rom and be acceptable to everyone in the family,” he said. “We wanted to turn it into a product that could please men but also women. Something sleeker, slimmer and more elegant that people could even customise.”

The Pure was launched by French foosball table brand Debuchy by Toulet, which was set up by football player Mathieu Debuchy and Toulet, which has been manufacturing pool tables since 1857. It comes in several finishes, including all-black or with top and legs in contrasting wood.

Gilles initially worked in finance, before studying industrial design and opening his own studio in 2007, which works on product and furniture design, as well as art direction.